Freedom
by Bonded Nerdlings
Summary: When two mutants are thrown into the middle of an anti-mutant propaganda, they vow to help set free the captured mutants- meeting the X-Men in the process...Except for the fact that X-Men they meet are the ones that got captured.
1. Prologue

**Authors' Note: Please review!  
~The Nerdlings**

**Title: **Freedom**  
Summary: **When two mutants are thrown into the middle of an anti-mutant propaganda, they vow to help set free the captured mutants- meeting the X-Men in the process...Except for the fact that X-Men they meet are the ones that got captured.**  
Genre: **Adventure/Humor**  
Rated: **T**  
Disclaimer: **We do not own nor claim X-Men Evolution. We do own OCs (Lori and Jade)

**Prologue**

**Third Person:**

The ten year old Lori Parkerson pulled her hoodie closer to her body as she walked through the park. She didn't really have any friends, so she preferred to be alone anyway. She enjoyed pretty much anything to do outside, so she went to the park often. Her favorite thing was playing in the water, or the mud. She also liked camping, just because of the simple fact that she even liked fire. She wasn't a pyro, she just found it calming.

"Hi there."

Lori spun around quickly. It was a girl around her age- twelve. She had black hair that was pretty short and bright blue eyes, and a slightly thick accent.

"Hey," Lori said, taking a small step back.

"My name is Jade."

"I'm Lori. If you don't mind me asking...Uh...Where are you from?"

"France. You?"

"New York, born and raised. So...What's it like there?"

It wasn't long before the two girls became friends. They talked about their hometowns and their schools and such, and frankly, they just enjoyed each other's company. It was nice.

"Hey, do you have a phone?" Jade asked.

Lori nodded and took out a pen so she could scribble it on her hand. Jade did the same to Lori.

"Thanks," She said. Jade nodded.

"My parents are calling me, I have to go," Jade said. Lori nodded and gave a small wave as she watched her new friend run off.

* * *

It sucked- that was the first thing that Jade realized as she returned to her home in France. After living in America for a few years, she wanted to stay there. She didn't want to leave the country of the free and she didn't want to leave her best friend (her first best friend actually).

As she entered the small, homely house, she found she had missed her American friend that she had met. Unluckily, her family had to leave as her grandmother had passed away.

She bit her lip as tears welled in her eyes. She was sixteen years old (seventeen in a few weeks). She wasn't supposed to get this emotional when someone died- especially if it was a grandmother who she didn't know that well. Maybe it would've been better if she didn't know the grandmother at all or if her grandmother was mean. That wasn't the case- her grandmother was a sweet kindly lady from the times that Jade did meet her. _Maybe someone killed her- that would explain why I'm so sad. Someone killed her, but who would kill a nice old lady? Maybe it was written off as a tragic accident? Maybe..._ She might be a paranoid person, but even she wasn't _that_ paranoid to believe someone would kill her grandmother.

She sat down on her bed and closed her eyes tightly. She only opened them when she felt a few fingers sweep through her pink hair (which had been dyed in a fit of a rebellion at first when she was fifteen, but she found she rather liked it better than her natural hair). Greeting her was the sight of her boyfriend, Wade.

Wade smiled at her.

"Hey babe, you doing okay," he asked.

Jade smiled as she sat up on the bed.

"Well I have you don't I," Jade said with a smirk as she kissed him- she always had been a bit more affectionate than she should be for a priest's daughter.

Wade had been her boyfriend for three years- she even dared to say that she may love the eighteen-year-old boy (his birthday was just yesterday). So as long as she had him, then maybe, just _maybe_ she could get through it.

"I love you," Wade whispered as he buried his head into her hair.

* * *

"No," Jade whispered in horror, "No... No...No...NO!"

Her breathing rapidly increased as her heart beat accelerated. She fell to her knees on her bedroom floor. The door was shut, as it usually was, but she knew that her parents were on the other side of the door talking to themselves about the just-received news.

_He can't be gone,_ Jade thought hysterically, _it's a trick, a prank, someone is toying with me. Wade isn't dead- maybe those guys who he owed money to caught up with him, maybe he's been kidnapped, but there is no way he is dead- he cannot be dead. No...He's supposed to be my date to the funeral. We're supposed to be together- we love each other. We're supposed to get married... He can't be gone...My parents..._

Her senses seemed to double as she sensed things that she hadn't been able to sense before. Her head shot towards the door. _My parents are there... I can sense them... I just know... Why do I know? What is causing this? _She breathed heavier as she hissed in pain as a headache came on.

_'She's going through some hard things, but she can't just lock herself in that room.'_

It was her mom's voice.

_'She better be alright- if she isn't I bet it's Dad's fault.'_

Her older brother- he was visiting strictly for the funeral (or _funerals_ now) because he never got along with their parents' strict ways.

_'Lord help her.'_

Her father's voice. He was reciting a prayer.

They were all in her head... In her head... Head...Why were they in her head?

"GET OUT," she screeched in a panic.

Just like that, her older brother Thomas burst down the door ignoring their mother's screams.

"JADE!"

He saw her on the floor on her knees. She was clutching her head, screaming. Things were shaking around her slightly. Thomas, shaking out of his shock, ran over and put his hands over her shoulders.

"Jade? JADE?"

She wasn't replying.

"A demon," their father whispered, "She's being possessed... Thomas step away from your sister."

* * *

"Just because you're sixteen it doesn't mean to get to do that," Lori's younger sister, Lala, whined as Lori put a blob of peanut butter on her nose.

She laughed.

"Of course I can. The fun part is I can only do it to you."

"At least I don't have a mean face."

"Which is the only reason the boy I like won't even spare a second glance at me. Now what kind of leftovers do you want for desert? Ice cream or s'mores?"

The two made eye contact for a complete two seconds before saying,

"S'mores," in complete unison.

Other than Jade, Lori could only really connect with her sister. She didn't know what she would do if something bad happened to her. It was like she was talking to a younger version of herself.

"Okay, well, now is the perfect time to show you how to make them. Okay, so all you have to do is light the stove a little bit, stab a marshmallow with a skinny piece of metal, and hold it over the fire for a few seconds. And this is the only thing I know how to make so take my word as if it's golden."

Lala giggled slightly and nodded as she did as instructed with the marshmallow as Lori lit the stove.

The second she turned on the stove there was a big explosion that threw her on her back. Lala screamed, expertly alerting their parents upstairs.

"What happened?!" They screamed as they went downstairs.

Only a few steps from the floor debris fell in front of the doorway. Lori was still recovering from the blow when a large beam fell on her stomach. She cried out in pain from the impact as she felt the fire eating away at her flesh, the darkness creeping at the end of her vision. She turned to Lala, who had fallen to the ground, and was coughing extremely hard. her face was bright red through the effort form her lungs.

Lori grit her teeth and gripped the wood tightly, wishing for clean air to come in and wipe it away. She was thankful she did all sorts of sports like football and baseball, so she was stronger and faster than most girls her age. But it still weighed a few more pounds than she could bench.

When she got the beam off of her she stumbled towards Lala, who had collapsed. Lori picked up her light body and made their way through the debris and out the door, where there was a huge fire truck waiting outside. She was getting sprayed in the face slightly as they doused the house in water, so she moved her hand to the side slightly. The water from the giant hose started circling around her instead of the house, and strands of her hair lifted with a few rocks. She looked down at her bloodied hands to find them glowing red. Not from the blood. they were glowing from the inside.

Tears started falling down her cheeks as she screamed slightly, running away from the house. Once she was a safe distance away she set her sister on a stretcher as paramedics checked on her. A few minutes later he turned around and told her what she had been fearing the most.

The water and air and earth and fire around her started spinning in a vortex, and she was in the center. She gripped her head and screamed as the fire men squirted her to the ground. Everything stopped spinning as she made contact with the assault.

"She's a mutie!" One of them cried. "Didn't you see that?! She's the one that caused this!"

"I...I didn't mean to, I just-"

She was cut off by more water being sprayed in her face. It was no use arguing with them. They were right, and now they wanted to kill her.

So she ran.

* * *

In two weeks, a lot had happened to Jade. She still had no idea why it was happening, but she managed to figure some things out. She found out that what she was hearing was people's thoughts. The thing she was sensing was people. It was as if they all had their own wavelengths and she was just the sensor.

And now, she was sitting in her brother's house (a benefit of him being a successful lawyer), after being exorcised three times, hospitalized once, and being disowned by their parents when she wasn't 'improving.' She could have faked getting better, but that went against what she believed in.

Her brother fixed her a cup of hot chocolate.

"_Je t'aime,"_ he whispered as he kissed her forehead.

"I love you too," she whispered, "Are you sure that-"

"-Oh no, don't you feel bad. The way I see it, you've been _blessed_ with these gifts, not _cursed..._ Though I don't know what you can do yet since all you were doing was screaming and stuff was shaking. Whatever this is, you'll get through it either way. 'Sides I have been looking for a reason to scream at _Father_ for a long time. He's... He's not exactly an ideal Christian- with him being so... anti-everything. God loves everyone, so why can't we?"

Jade smiled at her brother.

"Thank you," Jade said as she hugged her brother tightly.

Another week had passed before she remembered hearing about something called _mutants_ in America.

* * *

Lori collapsed in an alleyway, away from the mob. they had been after her an entire week, so she forced herself to at least get a little bit of control over what she could do. Before the mob made it to the alley she was in she lifted a, earth wall from the ground and lied down, panting from exhaustion.

"Get the bulldozer!" One of them called. She didn't care anymore.

She was to tired to care. She killed her mom. She killed her dad. She killed Lala, and everyone hated her even more.

"Hello, there. Lori, correct?"

Lori sat up a little to quickly in surprise and winced. Over the week her burn had been slowly healing, but the New York mobs could be a bit vicious. Now she had scare going from the nape of her neck to her collar bone from some wack-job with knife.

Now she was looking at someone who walked a little like a gorilla, and he had blue fur everywhere.

"Who are you?" she asked, slowly raising another earth wall. he smiled softly at her.

"It's okay. My name is Hank McCoy. My friend and I want to give you an offer."

"What kind of friend? What kind of offer?"

_"That would be me."_

Lori's head snapped up. It was a voice, but she couldn't see where it was coming from.

"Did you here that?"

"That is an excellent question, and the answer is no. Of course, if you're not talking about the angry mob, then yes. That, my friend, was Charles Xavier."

Lori looked back to Hank, only to find him holding out a bottle of water. She shook her head.

"I...That's not a good idea."

"You have a gift, and you're frightened. The X-Men can help you. there, every kid has a special power."

"But...What if I hurt them too? I..."

Hank put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"What happened was not your fault. Would you like to meat my friend?"

Lori nodded.

"Then would you please put down the wall? It's safe, I promise."

Lori waited for a moment, weighing her chances. She didn't really have all the much to lose, so she went ahead and did as she was asked. There, a man in a wheel chair sat in front of the mob. But the mob seemed...Frozen...Like they just didn't know what to do anymore.

"W-what happened to them?" She asked, backing up a little more.

Xavier gave her a warm smile.

"They are simply frozen. Thanks to my gifts I was able to do that so we could have a little talk. Now, you are currently homeless, yes?"

"...Yeah...And I don't know why you keep calling these gifts. For me they're more like a curse. i can't control them properly, and I ended up killing my own family! How am I supposed to live with that creeping in the back of my mind for the rest of my life?"

"You were given a life because you are strong, and you are able to live with the pain that is on your shoulders. Nightcrawler was chased through the streets like you. Rogue can't touch anyone. Cyclops burned down his orphanage by accident. We all have stories and past events that have made us stronger. You can become even more so if you choose to be around friends. Without friends, people can go extremely crazy."

Lori was silent for a long time. Ever since that day all sorts of trust had flown out the window. In fact, the only person she trusted was Jade, and she went back to France. She still didn't know about it though.

"And if I don't want to stay?"

"Then we will not make you stay. You may leave as you like, and you are always welcome back."

Lori pursed her chapped lips and nodded slightly.

"Okay then," She said, standing up, using the wall for support, "I'll go."


	2. News

**Chapter 1- News:  
**

**Lori:**

I laughed as I passed Jean and Scott on my air scooter. I had leaned how to make one a few days ago, and it was now my favorite source of entertainment. Well, other than making statues on the front lawn.

It had been one whole month since Beast and Professor Xavier had come to me. Storm was happy to help me control my powers, and I was running at full throttle. I even told Jade, and it turns out she was a mutant too. She was mind reader, which was pretty cool, I had to admit, and she was coming here to live at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. I was super excited for that.

But I hadn't told her what happened when I got my powers. I was to nervous, and I guess a little bit paranoid because the government was always listening to your conversations.

"Slow down, Short Stack," Logan called as I zoomed past him.

I stopped and turned around, balancing on top of my air scooter like a top.

"You should try this," I said.

He scoffed.

"Not a chance."

I smiled and stuck out my tongue before going to find Kurt. I had read on a flyer a few days ago that there was gonna be a carnival or fair or something that was just for mutants. To be honest, I think it's a tiny bit racist, but then I go _beep boop _in my head until I forget about how racist it is. Or when I'm angry or upset. I don't know why, but it really helps.

I somehow ended up outside, where Sam and Kitty were talking. I jumped off my air scooter and let it dissolve before running up to them.

"Have you guys seen Kurt?"

"I think he's over by the waterfall," Kitty said, looking over her shoulder.

"Thanks," I said, before making another scooter. Man, thee things were fun as hell.

A few minutes went by before I finally made it. I was practically jumping up and down with excitement.

"Kurt," I called, "Come on, it'll be opening soon!"

I didn't get an answer for the longest time, and I kinda got worried. I didn't want anyone I cared about getting hurt.

I walked to the edge of the waterfall, and for a few moments I thought about jumping in. Instead I took a few deep breaths and manipulated some water to make a super stretchy whip. Then I smirked and hit the foliage of the tree, expecting a pained cry from Kurt, or him falling out of the tree. Instead, there was only silence. I frowned.

"BOO!"

I screamed and fell forward into the water fall, but instead of falling into the pool below, I manipulated the water to carry me up back to Kurt. I punched his shoulder and he winced, rubbing the sore area.

"Jerk. Why'd you scare me like that, holy shit."

He gave me a cheeky grin, and I wanted to slap it off of him, but it was contagious. I smiled to.

"Because it vas funny. See, you are smiling too! Now hurry before ve miss it!"

"Why do you think I risked my life coming to get you?"

He scoffed.

"With your powers it's just another dare. Now come one, Scott said he would drive us."

I smirked and made another air scooter.

"Race ya!"

**Jade:  
**As soon as I reached America, I was pretty worn-out. Thoughts were constantly running through my head and they weren't necessarily my own. I did manage to get a book about meditation and I learned a few tricks that seemed to help block out most of the thoughts. The airport was the worse, however, so when I finally got inside the rental car I ordered I let out a sigh of relief.

I made it. I made it to America. I was going to see Lori again. I was going to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. I was going to learn how to control my powers and most of all, I was going to be _safe_. No more exorcisms. No more priests. I was still a Catholic through and through, but every time I see a priest I flinch because of the memories. Someday, I would be able to not flinch- maybe even someday I could face my parents again. It just wasn't going to be any day soon- at least my older brother, using his lawyer skills, was able to get me labeled as legally independent so I didn't have to worry about them coming after me.

Of course I actually did still worry. They would come. It was only a matter of time really. I shook my head and drove off in the car after I packed up all my suitcases- not that I had a lot. I only brought maybe two large suitcases filled with things. One had clothes. The other had books and necessities.

A car cut me off and I honked the horn.

"Merde," I swore in French loudly_._

'_Geesh what's that crazy bitch's problem,'_ a thought entered my mind.

I momentarily scowled and tried to clear my thoughts- well aware that when I heard people's thoughts, it was just as easy for them to hear mine since I haven't really been able to control that 'link' yet. On the bright side, with telepathy I could have private conversations without worrying about people listening in, or the government. I took a few deep breaths and continued driving- though there were more problems with people cutting me off, no turn signals, sudden turns, and more._ Américains impolis, _I thought, _stupid Americans._

I gritted my teeth. I was still a long time away from New York, being out in the country of Michigan. It was beautiful, I would admit that, but it was not France. _And now I am rather homesick... _

A sign in the distance caught me eye,

_Mutants and Allies Welcomed-_

_Mutant Friendly Fair_

_Exit 246_

_A mutant friendly fair,_ I thought, _it could be a trap. Someone could just want all the mutants in one place. It would be dangerous to go... But it's worth checking out. If anything to try to keep other mutants safe..._

I turned onto Exit 246 when I could.

_Sorry Lori, our reunion will have to wait._


	3. Festivities

**Chapter 2- Festivities  
**

**Third Person:**

Jade wondered around the rather large festival with a critical blue eye. Her pink hair swayed slightly as she gracefully walked from booth to booth. So far, everything seemed fine. Yet she knew that things could change in just a blink of an eye. For that reason, she kept her guard up.

"Hey beautiful," one guy said as he walked up to her, "Is you power over fire or are you naturally that hot?"

She almost glared at him. Instead, she played innocent. She looked at him confused,

_"Pensez-vous vraiment boiteux ramasser les lignes vont travailler?*"_

The guy backed off a bit,

"Woah, _exotic_ babe. Say is that French? The language of love?"

_"Je parle français et vous pense honnêtement que je comprends l'anglais? Je veux dire, je ne, mais c'est à côté du point.*"  
_

Jade continued to look at him confused, but amusement danced in her eyes. The guy smirked,

"I heard French in there somewhere so that must mean you understand me. Tell me, babe, think you wanna go on the Ferris Wheel with me? Or would you rather go somewhere more private?"

He put a hand around her waist and she shrieked, which caused a lot of people to look over. His perverted thoughts reached her mind and she gagged. She quickly escaped his grasp,

_"Creep! Evadez-vous de moi!*"_

She raised her hand and used her abilities to push him away, knocking him into a booth. She huffed and quickly walked away, swearing in French. _Are all American men so rude? It's... disgusting._

* * *

Lori grinned as she went from booth to booth. Living in New York, there wasn't many fairs to go to, so she was pretty excited. In fact, she was so excited that she didn't see where she was going, and ended up running into that person.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I...Jade?"

Lori looked at Jade. Her pink hair was swept over one shoulder and her eyes were blue as ever. The purple sleeveless turtleneck showed off Jade's graceful figure, the jeans showed off her legs, and the pink boots matched her hair. Jade looked Lori over as well- the familiarity with the way Lori's strawberry blonde hair was in a ponytail, her more rugged and mean-looking features (that usually made people avoid her), and the way her gray eyes still showed concern.

Lori's company looked over at the girls confused. Though Sam seemed to focus on Jade a bit more than the others- _wow..._

"You two know each other?" Sam asked.

Scott and Kurt just shrugged while Lori and Jade nodded.

"Yeah, since childhood," Lori explained, "Why didn't you call and say you were on your way?"

Jade shrugged and crossed her arms,

"No battery. How's it going?"

"Pretty good. You?"

"I've had better days," Jade answered vaguely.

She looked over the company briefly to glare at them before turning back to Lori.

"So what's your power? Out of all the things we talked about, you never said-"

"I can manipulate air, water, earth, fire, and metal."

"Cool. I got telepathy, minor telekinesis. And as far as I can tell, I can sense other people."

Lori giggled slightly, and her thoughts floated into Jade's head.

_"I wonder if she's reading my thoughts right now. I wonder what her reaction would be if I started thinking about butts. Hehe...I like big books and I cannot lie, you other brother can't deny...Hehe..."_

Jade rolled her eyes and glanced at the three boys behind Lori.

"Who are you?"

"Oh, my bad. This is Kurt, Scott, and Sam."

"I am a teleporter," Kurt said proudly, puffing out his chest.

Scott shrugged and pushed his shades up.

"I'm holding a bazooka behind each eye ball."

"I'm a human cannonball," Sam said, blushing ever so slightly.

_"She's so...Cute, and her French accent is amazing. Her eyes..."_

Jade smirked a little at Sam's thoughts, but it was wiped away when Kurt put his arm around Lori and gave her a noogy. Feeling her glare, Kurt stopped and straightened up. Lori rolled her eyes.

"Relax, Jade, we're just friends."

_"At least for now, anyway."_

"Well, I guess I'll hang with you guys then. So, you gonna tell me about the school?"

Lori nodded eagerly.

The boys watched as they seemed to be completely forgotten by Lori and Jade, who were caught up in a conversation between the teachers and there powers.

"...And then there's Logan. He does training mostly, and he has this sweet healing factor and these really cool metal claws that are a part of his skeleton. Other than Storm, he's the coolest teacher. But he's also the hardest to get along with. Mostly because he doesn't really talk to anyone unless he's picking an argument, but he's still pretty cool. And then there's also Beast, who actually used to be a teacher at Bayville High before his mutation finally set in all the way..."

Jade took in all the information, mentally going over each person Lori spoke about and evaluating what their weakness and strengths may be. When Lori finally finished speaking, Jade just continued to nod,

"That seems... rather _agréable_- I mean pleasant."

"I see you still switch to French," Lori laughed, "And you can't get rid of that accent either, can you?"

"It's just one of my hottest traits," Jade said with a smirk.

_"You got that right,_" Sam's thought hit her. She continued to smirk. While most of the time, she was weary of boys and their attentions, Sam at least seemed like an honest fellow. Besides, he was nothing like her old, _dead_ boyfriend which brought her a bit more relief. If he was too much like her old boyfriend, then she wouldn't be able to do anything- the pain would overcome her. She took a few deep breaths to calm down, causing Lori to look at her with concern.

Jade turned to the boys,

"Usually I'm the rude one- but I can't believe Lori is being rude too... We've barely talked to you."

"It's fine," Scott said easily, "You two haven't seen each other in a while- it's reasonable."

"If you say so," Jade shrugged.

Lori nudged her,

"Jade- there's a test your strength rigged for mutants- looks like there's a normal one too... Wanna use your powers and win me that giant stuffed panda like the best friend slash sister you are?"

Lori looked up at her with puppy dog eyes. Jade wasn't phased. Jade crossed her arms,

"Lori- I'm Catholic. Cheating is practically a lie, which is a sin."

Lori whined and while she didn't notice, the others did see Kurt go over there (no doubt to try to win the panda). Sam was staring at Jade.

_"She's Catholic too! She's perfect!"_

Jade winked at him, causing him to blush.

* * *

"Are you sure this plan will work," a mysterious figure stated.

"I'm positive. All these mutants and those _traitors_ in one place? It's a gold-mine... The mutants will be ours to freely test."

_*Do you really think lame pick up lines will work?_  
_*I'm speak French and you honestly think I understand English? I mean, I do, but that's beside the point._  
_*Creep! Get away from me!_


	4. The Attack

**Chapter 3- The Attack:  
**

**Third Person:**

"Does anyone else get that gut feeling that something bad is about to happen?" Sam asked.

The others nodded in agreement. Jade just hummed slightly as she ate the cotton candy in her hands. When she caught Sam's look, she held out the cotton candy offering some to him. He took one piece as he blushed.

"It's so fluffy," Lori said as she nuzzled her face in the panda's belly.

Kurt smiled.

"But yeah," Lori continued, "I totally agree with you guys. This place was way fun at first but-WATCH OUT!"

Lori dropped the panda and jumped in front of the group, sending out her fist and letting out a ball of flame, disintegrating the net that had been coming towards them.

"It's a trap!" Scott said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Jade and Lori said in unison.

They would have laughed, but this mutant friendly place had just turned deadly.

"Run!" Lori said, grabbing her stuffed panda.

The others followed behind.

"What about the other mutants?" Kurt asked as he ran next to Lori.

Scott frowned even more.

"There's no way we can save them all. The best thing to do right now is get away and come back later."

"We can't just let them get caught!" Lori cried.

"I know, but we just have to this time. I'm sorry."

"Then I'll cover you."

Lori handed her panda to Jade and brought up an earth wall, moving it back and forth as darts and bullets flew at them. Their only problem was they were deep in the park. They would be lucky if they made it out.

Jade focused her powers,

"There's a lot of people who weren't here before- I can sense roughly 100 to 150, and that's the ones in my range."

Jade dodged a bullet, but Lori wasn't as lucky. Lori winced as a bullet dug its way into her arm, but she ignored it. She had been through worse pain, like being burned and being almost decapitated by an angry mob, so this was almost nothing to her.

"Can some one patch that up, the blood is getting in the way," she said over her shoulder.

Scott quickly tore off his sleeve and tied it around the wound while Lori made two more earth walls come up.

"Can I run with you guys," a mutant asked.

"Hurry," Jade snapped, "but yes."

He quickly thanked her and ran with them.

"How far are we?" Lori asked.

"Take your next left and we'll be out," the new guy replied.

"How can you see through the wall?" Sam asked, as one of Lori's walls moved next to him to deflect a net.

Jade used her powers to deflect some of the bullets from hitting them.

"I have different types of visions. Heat ray, X-Ray, thermal, etc."

"Grab on," Kurt shouted. T

hey did, and he ported them into Scott's car.

"Drive, man! Drive!"

Scott fumbled with the keys for a little bit, and that was all it took. The tires were deflated by darts and ammo.

"Thank God we're in Michigan," Lori said, hopping out of the car with the others.

"Why does that matter?" Sam cried.

Without saying anything, Lori made all of them sink through the ground, and then followed right after.

"So not cool," Sam coughed.

"Deal with it," Lori said as she made a fire ball in on hand and started making a tunnel with the other.

Scott stopped her.

"We got time now that we're underground, we can patch you up."

"Not right now. There's a mountain a few miles from here, I can make us a cave when we get there. Hey, eye boy, what's your name?"

"Josh."

"Well, Josh, tell me when to go up, and if there's anyone following us from above."

Josh mock saluted.

"Consider it done."

* * *

"I never knew how amazing fresh air could be," Scott said as he helped the others climb out.

They had made it to the base of the mountain, where a small stream was, so they had plenty of drinking water.

"I'll make the cave here," Lori said.

She was worn out. She had never used her powers for that long at a single time before. At least now she knew another way to improve her skills.

"Can somebody go grab some fire wood? Not too damp, we need the dry stuff."

Kurt saluted and ported into the small woods that the stream led into.

Lori smiled and placed her hand against the rock, tightening what small grip she had. Then she threw her opposite arm back and slapped the mountain, forcing the rock to make a decent sized hole for the five of them. Then she hit the inside of the wall with her fist and two beds and two couches made from earth popped up, along with a place to put the fire wood.

"Either you've been doing weight lifting again or your just really good at that," Jade said, attempting to lighten the mood.

Lori smiled weakly at her.

"Both," she replied.

As Lori made a move to leave, Jade stopped her.

"I...With my telepathy, I can set up a link between all of us- it may be safer so they don't hear us... Just be aware that whatever you say outloud won't go over the link."

Jade looked to everyone as she said the last part. They all nodded. Jade took a deep breath and concentrated.

_"Working,"_ Jade asked, "_Can everyone hear_?"

_"Loud and clear, beautiful,"_ Josh thought with a wink- sending a small ball of anger through Sam.

Jade let the comment roll off her back as Lori smiled,

"You guys set up camp, I'll go get some water," she said.

The others nodded and trudged inside as Kurt popped back with the wood. He quickly set it where it was supposed to go and ported to Lori, who was at the stream, taking Scott's sleeve off.

Lori winced as she lightly touched the wound. She could feel the bullet inside her arm, and it was highly uncomfortable.

"Do you need help?" Kurt asked.

Lori shook her head and concentrated as she made the bullet smaller so she could pull it out more easily.

"No," she said as she finally got it free," I'm good. Thank you, though."

Kurt nodded and watched as Lori stuck her hand into the water, manipulating it so it encased her entire hand. She placed it over the wound and sighed in relief.

"Does vater really make it feel that good?" He asked. She shrugged.

"It does if you're making the water heal you. See? The wound is closed up now."

"Cool."

"I know, right? Come on, we gotta join the others."

* * *

Jade sat on a large rock with her arms crossed as she took in her surroundings. The camp was all set with a small fire going. She glanced over to Josh- he was attractive, she would admit. He had a nice strong build, pretty tall, shaggy black hair, and vivid blue eyes. A few tattoos were visible on his arms and neck as well. Though he was annoying as well with his constant flirting.

_"Je n'aime pas tout le flirt,*"_ Jade thought annoyed.

Josh raised an eyebrow,

"Mes excuses, ne signifie pas pour vous faire mal à l'aise,*" Josh said as he kissed her knuckles.

She raised her eyebrow a bit surprised,

"You speak French?"

Remembering the link, she repeated her words in her mind.

_"C'est la langue de l'amour*," _Josh thought amused.

At that, the two were engrossed in a conversation in French- talking about various things such as Jade talking about how France is, how he learned French, why he learned French, and then it escalated to music. Sam watched, fuming slightly. Scott, noticing it, put a hand on his shoulder,

"Don't worry," he whispered, "It gets better."

Sam saw Jade laughing with Josh.

"Doubt it... Am I supposed to get jealous after knowing her for just a day?"

"Young love," was Scott's only answer as he laughed.

Jade continued to laugh,

_"Merci! I haven't have a good laugh in a while," _ Jade thought.

_"My pleasure, beau*."_

Jade looked over briefly at Sam and noticed he seemed upset. She moved closer to him.

"Sam,_ you alright?"_

_"I-I'm f-fine,"_ he stuttered with a slight blush.

She frowned and put a hand on his forehead, leaning towards him in a way that made him gulp.

"_You're burning up. Are you sure?"_

_"D-Dandy..."_

Scott was just laughing in the background.

_*I dislike all the flirting.  
*My apologies, didn't mean to make you uncomfortable.  
*It is the language of love  
*beautiful_


	5. Game Plan

**Chapter 4- Game Plan:  
**

**Third Person:**

_"We need a plan,"_ Scott thought firmly.

Jade sighed. For the past thirty minutes, they had been arguing about what their next move was. She wanted nothing more than to sleep, but alas that was impossible since if she fell asleep then the link would be shut down. Lori, however, had the luxury of sleep as she slept with her head on Kurt's shoulder, the other mutant was fast asleep as well so he didn't notice.

That left only Scott, Sam, Josh, and her awake. Though she would much rather be sleeping and was getting ruder and ruder the longer she was kept up.

"_No we don't,"_ Jade snapped, _"What we need is information. __Knowing our enemy can be the difference between coming out alive, dead, or severely traumatized. You may be the leader of the X-Men or whatever, Scott, but you know nothing if you are dumb enough to not do research first."_

The two glared at each other- the tension between them was rising every second since all they could do was fight. Josh just watched amused as Sam gulped nervously.

"_Guys,"_ Sam said, "_I think... I think Jade's right... We need to know what's going on."_

Jade threw a thankful smile to Sam which made him blush.

"_Oh quelqu'un obtenu le béguin pour toi,"_ Josh thought as he nudged Jade.

Jade glared at him and he laughed silently. Sam looked over curiously, wondering just what Josh had said and if he should be offended- he could tell it was about him from the way Jade looked over and then blushed.

_"Wow, that's a cute blush,"_ Sam thought and then turned beet red as Jade and the others turned to him.

_"Je peux pratiquement voir les coeurs dans l'air," _Josh joked.

Jade turned beet red and hit him on the shoulder hard. He rubbed it with a frown,

_"Okay no more teasing! Geesh!"_

_"Okay,"_ Scott said as he rubbed his temples, "_Does anyone have any ideas of who these guys are?"_

_"I think I know," Josh chimed, "They looked like the Order- it's an anti-mutant group. Last I heard they were in Europe. Killed some mutants a few weeks ago. They believe that mutants are 'setting off the balance' and it's up to them to fix it. They're pretty dangerous though. I mean, I don't think you guys really saw, but I did. They had staffs that seemed to deflect every power there is. I got away because I was lucky. You guys got away because you worked together and they weren't prepared for that... But we need to be careful..."_

Across the room Lori yawned and turned over, resting her head on Kurt's chest. Her face was scrunched up, as if in pain, and her hands her clutching her stomach.

_"What's wrong?" _Jade thought, concern growing rapidly on her face. _"Why is she doing that?"_

_"You don't know?" _Scott asked. She shook her head.

_"The professor and Beast found her being chased by an angry mob after ber house burned down. No douby from her powers manifesting. I don't know all of the details but I think that's where she got burned."_

_"What about her parents, and Lala?"_

Scott just shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck.

_"I'm gonna go get some sleep."_

Josh and Sam yawned and stretched, nodding in agreement with Scott. Jade let out a small sigh of relief as she let the link drop.

"We'll talk tomorrow, then" she whispered. The boys nodded in agreement as Sam toom the bed and Josh and Scott took the couch, their feet getting in each others faces. She smirked and climbed in next to Sam.

"I guess I'm sleeping with you then, huh?"

He blushed a deep red and gulped.

"I...Uh...I guess. I mean, if you want to..."

Jade smirked and cuddled a little closer, quickly falling asleep.

* * *

Lori gasped as she shot up. Thankfully it was still night time, and she didn't wake anyone up. Well, except for Kurt, who woke up when she jolted. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, are you okay? Why are you crying?" He whispered. She nodded slowly.

"Y-yeah, yeah, it was just...Just a nightmare."

"Do you wanna talk aout it?"

"No, it's fine."

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

Lori nodded again, and he hugged her tightly for a second before laying back down, letting Lori take her place on his chest again.

"...I accidentally killed my family..." Lori said quietly, sniffling slightly. Kurt rubbed her back.

"It's okay. It wasn't your fault. It's not like you meant to do it."

"I...I know, but...I miss them..."

"I know how you feel."

"Your parents are dead to?"

Kurt shook his head.

"No. My parents are back in Germany, and I never get to talk to them since they run a circus. No technology. Except for the lights."

Lori chuckled slightly before snuggling in a little closer.

"Hey, Kurt?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks," she yawned. He waited until she was fast asleep to reply.

"Any time."

* * *

When Jade opened her eyes, she wasn't in the cave anymore. No, she was in some country town. Her vision was a bit blurred around the edges and that was her only hint that what she was seeing wasn't real. It was a dream- someone's dream anyway since it was most defiantly not hers. So the question was, whose dream was it?

She felt someone's arms wrap around her waist and a pair of lips kiss her neck. Turning bright red, she quickly got out of the grip to see who it was. It was Sam. _Ah so it's his dream then... _She smirked,

"Hate to say it, _amoureux*_ but I am a part of no dream."

As her words sunk in, Sam turned bright red.

"J-Jade? B-but how? W-Why? I didn't mean- I mean, I- I'm sorry."

Sam looked down at the ground, shifting his feet uncomfortably. His face was red as a tomato. Instead of being offended, Jade just put a hand on his shoulder,

"No harm no foul. Honestly, I am honored to know that not only am I apart of your dream, but that is what you do to me in a dream."

She winked and he gulped. The thought that his lips had touched the real Jade's neck did nothing to help him.

"B-but how?"

"It's one of my powers. Dream visitation. I must be touching you in my sleep, since that's how I enter a dream."

The thought that she was touching him in the real world in some way or form made him blush even more. He took a deep breath and desperately wished for the blood to flow back to his brain. He was a Catholic! He wasn't supposed to get dirty thoughts! And she was _defiantly_ not supposed to encourage them!

"Y-You must be pretty powerful then."

"Not really," Jade waved it off, "My telekinesis isn't that strong and I can't use it for long periods of time. My telepathy link has a range of about two miles and my ability to sense people only has a range of about two meters. I don't really even sense them. I more sense their _soul. _The only power without a con is this one. Well except that I must be touching that person."

Jade mused to herself and Sam just stared at her in awe. Her mutation was obviously abilities that were mind-based. The ability to sense someone's soul was defiantly mind-power based.

"That's amazing," Sam whispered.

"The human mind is amazing," Jade shrugged, "Its capable of so many great things, yet so many use their brains for evil. But it's almost a mystery as well."

"A mystery?"

"Take the dream for example," Jade gestured to everywhere and Sam, "We can be in here for months, even years, but when we wake up it's only be a night. You ever have a dream where you're older? Or you see yourself getting married, having kids? Or going to Paris? All that takes time and that time passes here- but when you wake up, you don't remember all the time, just the big things. And yet only a night passed in reality. It's almost like a whole different dimension, the mind is... It's fascinating."

Sam took a deep breath,

"So... Are you saying I have a few months? Or even a year? To get to know you?"

Jade looked at him surprised before she smiled- an honest smile that she hadn't smile since her old boyfriend died. She smiled like her face was splitting apart. A small breeze went through her hair and Sam took in the smell of strawberries- he wasn't sure if that was what she really smelled like or if it was part of the dream. He did notice the way her eyes lit up as she said her next statement,

"Yeah, yeah it does... But the getting to know each other part? It goes both ways."

_*Oh someone's got a crush on you_  
_*I can practically see the hearts in the air_  
_*Sweetheart**  
**_


	6. Defense and Offense

**Chapter 5- Defense and Offense:**

**Third Person:**

When Jade woke up, she did so with a smile. The talks that she and Sam had while in their little dream world were better than any conversation she had in the real world. It was comforting to talk to him, and not once did she lost her temper. She found it even more comforting when woke up on his warm, comfortable, chest. She closed her eyes and decided to just not wake up until he did.

He woke up quick enough. He looked down and saw her sleeping with her head on his chest and her legs entwined with his, and he blushed madly. Her body was half-way on top of him as well. He saw her smirk and he realized that she woke up that way and decided not to move. _That means she's comfortable... right?_

_"Dang right I'm comfy," _Jade thought back,_ "You're warm."_

_"Glad to see you two are awake," _Scott thought dryly,_ "Mind untangling yourselves so we can get on with business?"_

_"Oh aller te faire foutre,"_ Jade thought back bitterly.

Josh covered his laugh with a cough and an innocent look. Scott raised an eyebrow- knowing that no doubt she said a few _colorful_ words to him. Jade slowly untangled her legs from Sam's, raised an eyebrow at him when she felt something _particular._ He blushed madly and coughed a bit, but she just looked amused. She continued to get off of him and then popped her back. She looked over- Lori was still asleep on Kurt. She smirked and walked over.

"_Bonjour l'amour des oiseaux," J_ade thought amused as the two woke up.

"_Like you're the one who should be calling them love birds Ms. I tangle my limbs with whoever I am sleeping with,"_ Josh thought.

Jade mildly glared at him and Lori yawned. She rubbed at her eyes and realizing that she was on top of Kurt, she blushed and got up. He blushed as well and quickly stood up.

_"Geesh even in a cave, there's still hormones in the air,"_ Scott thought with a sigh, _"Listen, everyone, I have a plan. Josh and I woke up early and ventured out. There's two buildings a long while North that are guarded by the Order. One looks like a prison- everyone who was captured seems to be there. The other looks more like an HQ. Jade, Sam and I will go to the HQ to try to get some more information about the Order. Kurt, Lori, and Josh- you guys free the other mutants."_

_"Sounds like you're the man with a plan," _Kurt thought as he gave a thumbs up.

_"I can keep everyone linked but if it drops out- you probably went out of ranger or something happened,"_ Jade thought, _"But yeah- sounds like a plan."_

She stood close to Sam and gave him a nod. He nodded back.

_"Yeah I'm in."_

_"Then let's go," _Josh smirked, _"It's getting too hormonal in here. Love birds everywhere."_

Josh turned to Scott,

_"You're not going to confess to me or anything right?"_

* * *

Kurt and Lori held their breaths as they stalked through the halls. She was so nervous that they might get caught and end up like the other mutants that had been caught. She was also worried that Jade and the others might get caught too. If that happened she would flip out.

"Uh...Wanna try this way?" She whispered.

Kurt shrugged and nodded, and they went down the empty hall that led to an elevator. Josh followed suit.

"This elevator music sucks ass," Lori said as she pressed the button to take then underground.

Kurt cracked a smile.

"At least we are not left in an awkward silence. Those are always uncomfortable."

"I hear that," Josh agreed, but he was mostly ignored.

_This is what happens when I get stuck as a third wheel._

_"I heard that," _Jade thought to him_._

About a minute later and the elevator dinged, and the doors opened.

"Shit," Lori said.

In front of them were two guards, with big threatening guns. The guns in question were being pointed at the mutants' heads.

"This might be a bit of a problem," Kurt admitted.

Lori nodded. Before the guards could do anything, she blew on them, flash freezing them. Then the couple just awkwardly stepped around them.

"I guess that means we're heading the right way," Lori stated.

Kurt nodded in agreement as he took their key cards. They went down yet another extremely long hallway that opened up at the end into this huge cavern-type place. Lori grimaced at the sight.

There were beat up mutants in every cage that were lining the walls like a hotel.

"Oh. My. Go-"

"-There they are!"

Lori amd Kurt prepared for battle as they were surrounded by guards. Lori quickly made two double-whips. Both were made of water and fire.

"I guess you men wouldn't mind if we let them go now...Right?" Kurt said. They all cocked their guns, and Kurt sighed.

"Thought so."

With that he took the key cards and ported away, leaving extremely confused guards surrounding an extremely determined and angry mutant.

Lori cried out sightly as her hand was shot, and the whip dissolved. She growled and held that hand out, making the earth shake them off of their feet. She stomped the ground slightly and rose up on a circle of rock.

Then every door to every cell that held a captive mutant opened.

"See ya," she said in a deep, low voice that sent shivers down their backs. Then Kurt decided to pop in. Literally. She was about to pop her out, but she shook her head and pulled away.

"No. Make sure they get out safely, I'll buy some time and join you when I can."

"What? Lori, no! You can't-"

"-I have to. Other wise they're gonna follow us everywhere."

"But-"

"-Kurt, come on."

Kurt finally just sighed.

"Fine. Just don't do anything extreme."

"No promises," Lori stated, and she gave a mental message to Jade, _"We've been spotted. Taking down guards now."_

Kurt smirked before porting away with Josh. As soon as they landed, Josh gave him a nod,

"Don't worry so much, she'll be fine."

She turned back to the guards that were being pinned by an unknown force. She saluted the telekenetic and she nodded back, letting the guards up and dashing off with the others. Lori smirked and raised her arms, making a giant wall of earth between them and the mutants.

"Let's get started..."

* * *

"Remind me again why we have to go to their HQ," Sam asked.

"Better idea," Jade whispered, "Remind me why no one is using the mental link? I can't tell what's happening with the others."

_"We've been spotted- taking down the guards now,"_ Lori entered Jade's mind.

Jade stopped briefly before sighing.

"_Rodger that."_

"Never mind," Jade said out loud, "They've already been spotted. We have to make this quick."

"Noted. We just have to get some more information that may help us later. Besides maybe not everyone is in the prison. Some may be here too," Scott informed.

The group stealthy made their way through the hallways. Jade tried her best to sense any life forms in the area near them. She stopped Scott before he turned the corner.

"_Shush. One's coming this way."_

Sure enough, one guard walked right down the hall, passing the area where the group was hiding. Should the guard have just turned his head to face the hall he passed, he would have seen them pressed up against the wall. As soon as the guard passed, Sam let out a small sigh of relief. Jade crinkled her brow as she grabbed onto Sam's wrist. She ran down the hall, Scott running after them.

"Uhh," Sam blushed.

"Jade," Scott whispered harshly as he caught up to them.

Jade motioned for him to shush,

"_More guards- lots of them. Coming from all directions. Ten to one to go get Lori or because all the other mutants are es aping. We got get out of here."_

_"Out,"_ Scott thought, _"We're trying to get in."_

_"We were trying to get in. That was then this is now. Now there are more guards than I can count- and just as I think I counted them all, the more I sense. They're... There's too many. We need to get back to the prison, get Lori and the others and then get the hell out."_

_"Lori," _Jade thought.

_"A bit busy."_

_"Yeah got that- you need to get out of there petit élément fée."_

_"Little element fairy," _Josh thought amused,_ "that's a new one."_

_"Shut up," _Jade thought irritated, _"How are things with you and the blue one? Kurt- right?"_

_"Vah, everything is fine,"_ Kurt thought, _"You know except for the guards trying to kill us or worse. Don't really want to find out." _

"_And you won't get the chance to either,"_ Lori chimed.

_"Look,"_ Scott thought, _"We'll meet you at the prison-"_

_"-East wing,"_ Jade interrupted, _"I can sense you in the north wing. We got there from the east wing where there's the less amount of guards. Fight through the guards and come up behind them while they're facing you guys. Kurt, Josh, how the mutants?"_

_"Good,"_ Kurt thought, _"We almost got them all out of the cages... They're in pretty bad shape. Scott-"_

_"-I already called the Professor."_

* * *

***Oh go fuck yourself**

***Good morning love birds**


	7. To Help

**Chapter 6- To Help:**

**Lori:**

I groaned as the last guard finally fell. A few of their bullets had grazed my sides, and I was losing a lot of blood. I fell to my knees.

_"Owwww," _I thought.

Then Kurt popped in and checked me over. I could see the worry in his face, even through the black at the edge of my vision. I smiled weakly at him.

"How you doin?'" I said, taking his hand and standing back up, swaying slightly as I did so.

"Well, we didn't die, so pretty well. Here, I brought some vater," He said, holding out the bottle.

I smiled and uncapped it, manipulating the water to my sides where the wounds were, instantly feeling a tiny bit better. The water quickly sped up the healing process, and closed the wounds, stopping the bleeding. At least for a short time.

"Ready to go?"

I nodded, and he grabbed my shoulder and poofed us out.

We ended up in the elevator that was crammed with a bunch of mutants. I stood in between Kurt and a girl who was short, and had scales and a giant tail that was coiled around her stomach so there would be extra room. She gave me a grateful look.

"Thanks," She said.

I nodded, and the doors to the elevator closed, and we rose, listening to shitty elevator music as we did so. I was so grateful when it dinged and we were all able to file out.

"Hop on my back," I instructed Kurt as I made an air scooter.

He did, and we left the other mutants to find the exit for themselves.

"Why don't we just teleport there," He called over the wind in our ears.

I sorta shrugged.

"One, you need to see where you're going, two, this is way more fun."

Kurt gave me a lopsided grin and nodded as we sped down a few more random hallways.

_"Where the hell are we?" _Lori thought, getting a bit frustrated.

Kurt shrugged.

_"Go to your left, and go down the third hallway on your right," _Jade instructed through the link.

_"Thanks."_

"I see vhy you do this all the time, now!" Kurt shouted over the wind.

"I know, right? Now let's go find the others!"

**Third Person:**

Jade looked back at the fallen bodies of the guards with a satisfied nod. Sam gave her a goofy grin- a sign that he was glad the guards were taken care of as well. Though he did look a bit concerned, noticing the various wounds on her body caused by the shots from the guards. He had similar wounds but they were nothing- barely even flesh wounds. Scott had them as well. Yet none of the wounds concerned him except for Jade's. Whether it be because he liked the girl or because she got the worse of it was something he was trying to figure out.

"They should be here soon," Jade noted, "There are no other guards in this area that I can sense- at least not any that will be a problem. We can take my ride to get out of here if we must."

"Good idea," Scott nodded, "We need to get together to head back to the mansion. Are the other mutants safe?"

Jade closed her eyes briefly as she focused. She sensed Sam and Scott first. She expanded it to sense Lori, Kurt and Josh. Expanding her sensing as far as she could, she could sense various mutant signatures and non-mutant signatures (allies that were captured) fleeing. Since most of the guards were taken down, they had no problem escaping. Jade let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"They are all right. Though you should know I can't keep doing this... I suppose everything is catching up with me at once."

Her body swayed a bit as if to prove her point. Losing her balance, she nearly fell. Sam caught her with ease. He blushed a bit as she smirked at him. Her eyes were a bit glazed over and half-way closed.

"I'm not used to using my abilities this often. I still have limits," she scowled, "It's taking it's toll on my body..."

She tried to stand up fully, only to sway even more. Sam put an arm around her waist as she put her arm around his shoulders for support. Scott nodded firmly,

"Understood."

"Hey," Lori greeted cheerfully as she and Kurt arrived at the scene.

She looked at Jade and Sam slyly and was about to make a comment when Scott interrupted her,

"Where's Josh?"

"I'm here," Josh's voice called out as he came running to them.

He was panting rather hard. He shot a glare at Lori and Kurt briefly before turning to the others. He smiled,

"The lovebirds forgot about me."

"Can't imagine why," Jade muttered as she rolled her eyes.

"Hey, that's almost rude, you _assez_ girl."

Jade promptly ignored his comment as she turned to Lori and Kurt. She didn't bother to say anything else as her breathing became a bit uneven. She was low on energy- mentally. The mental strain was causing her physical problems. Her chest burned with pain, causing even more pain to flare as it aggravated her wounds. She winced and Sam looked at her concerned,

"Are you o-okay? What's wrong?"

"Just...out of breath. A little rest and I will be fine."

"A little rest," Lori muttered to herself, "Last time she said that when we were kids she ended up sleeping for three days."

Jade sighed, wincing as the action sent her lungs ablaze. Sam continued to watch her concerned as his grip on her waist tightened, not noticing that Jade's shirt had lifted up a bit and his hand was on her bare skin. Josh, however, did notice as he looked over there coyly. He choose not to comment for once as Scott ordered them to head out.

*_assez- pretty_


	8. Safe Haven

**Chapter 7- Safe Haven**

**Third Person:**

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit," Lori muttered.

Jade's body was going wonky, and she was getting paler by the second. Her arm had a sick blue-purplish shade to it. Sam's eyebrows wee furrowed in concern as Jade's head rested in his lap. She had already passed out from the strain- using her mental abilities to take out guards, all the thoughts she had to block out so they could take, blocking all the guards' shots. All that strain just drained all the energy she had- and she didn't have that much to spare since she got hit so often (she wasn't a fighter).

Lori groaned.

"Drive faster!" Lori shouted from the back seat.

They had hot wired a van so everyone could fit, and were finally reaching Bayville.

"Does anyone have some god damn water?" Lori cried.

Kurt, who was in the passenger seat, searched the front, and came up with nothing. Lori cursed, and Josh frowned slightly.

"You should really watch your mouth," he said as Scott made a sharp turn, almost causing a crash.

"She's the only family I got left. I refuse to let her die with me around. I refuse to let her die period. So you take that and stick it where the sun don't shine," Lori said, her voice low and dangerous.

Sam grabbed Jade's hand.

_Please be okay._

"Shit," Scott said. "Lori, the gates!"

Lori turned away from Josh and thrust out her hand, forcing the gates to the school off their hinges. Scott pulled up to the school with a screech, almost running Kitty and Rogue over, but before the car even stopped, Lori had taken a half conscious Jade and made an air scooter, going straight to the infirmary.

"Scott?" Jean asked as Lori whipped past her. "What's going on? What happened?"

"The entire festival was a trap. Contact Beast, tell him to meet Lori and Jade in the infirmary."

Jean nodded and brought her hands to her temple.

_"Beast, Scott said go to the infirmary."_

_"I'm already there, Jean. Oh, dear, I think we might have to do an amputation..."_

"Jean? What's wrong, what did he say?"

"Jade has to get an amputation," she replied, running into the building. Scott, Kurt, and Josh followed.

* * *

"Hey, hey, come on, Jade. It's okay," Lori said, squeezing her hand. Beast put a hand on her shoulder.

"I need you to leave the room for the time being," he said. Lori shook her head.

"No, no, no, I...I have to stay. Jade is like my sister, and I've already lost one to many, I-I have to stay!"

She hadn't realized her voice had been rising the entire time. It was because of the panic, and Beast knew that. That's why he had Jean levitate her out of the room a few minutes later so he could work.

* * *

Lori rocked back and forth slightly as she sat on the bench, rubbing her arms nervously. Kurt sat down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulder and pressing her close to his body, rocking her back and forth, trying to comfort her.

"If Jade is as tough as you are then she'll make it, so there is no need to worry."

"Thanks, but under these circumstances it's impossible not to worry. What if she doesn't make it? I can't handle that. Not after Lala and my parents."

Lori didn't know when she had started crying, but it felt kind of good to let it all out. She hadn't cried since that night.

Kurt shushed her and rocked her back and forth, planting a small kiss on her head, telling her it was going to be okay, until she finally fell asleep. A few minutes later, he fell asleep as well.

* * *

Sam paced the hallway near the infirmary nervously. He knew her injuries had been bad, but he didn't realize it was that bad. It must've been when that guard shot her arm. His fists clenched tightly. He hated that she got so badly to get an amputation on an arm. It was driving him nuts that he couldn't be in there with her.

Technically, he only knew her for about two (nearly three) days. Yet in their minds, when she entered his dream, they learned all about each other over a course of about two months. He knew her favorite color was pink. She had a tendency to be rude. She told him about how she found out about her powers, the exorcisms, and why she came to America. He told her about his life as well.

He knew everything about her- everything except if she liked him back, but that was a totally different bridge that he would cross later. He knew he cared about her and he was _defiantly_ attracted to her. For right now, all that mattered was if she would be okay.

He sat outside the door and he waited. Night passed. It was nearly two in the morning when the door opened and Beast walked out. He seemed a bit shocked Sam was there.

"Sam?"

"Is she okay," Sam asked intensely as he shot up, "Can I go see her?"

"Of course- she's in a dazed state, however, so I must ask you to be careful... According to Jean, both Kurt and Lori are asleep so they will be a while before they get there."

Beast gave Sam a knowing look,

"So you have plenty of time to say what you need to say."

Before he could explain further, Beast left. Sam entered the room eagerly, his heart beating in his chest. He reached Jade. She was in the med-bed, in a hospital gown rather than in her normal clothes. The gown hung limply on her figure and barely covered her. Her hair was a bit of a mess and a few smudges of makeup were visible under her eyes and on her cheeks. Her eyes, however, were clearly awake, but a bit dazed as if she were very tired. Which she was, by no doubt.

The most noticeable thing was her left arm, or rather, the _lack of_ her left arm. Being unable to save the arm, Beast did indeed have to cut it off a bit away from the shoulder- just enough room was left to be able to attach a future prosthetic.

"Sam," Jade yawned, "what are you doing here? I was expecting Lori."

Sam winced slightly- briefly thinking if Jade wished it was Lori instead of him. However, he didn't take offense to it realizing that Jade just expected Lori since Lori was so freaked out and protective. He smiled sheepishly as he took a seat next to the bed,

"Sorry to disappoint you."

"I wouldn't say it's a disappointment," Jade said as her eyes twinkled.

Sam blushed, causing Jade to smile. It was an honest-to-God smile that looked a bit goofy and dorky, especially with the way her laugh lines stood out. It was far from perfect and yet Sam loved it. He blushed even more and looked away as Jade grabbed his hand that was settled on his thigh.

"Hey, you okay?"

"I-I'm fine," Sam coughed slightly, still avoiding eye contact.

Finally, he turned his attention back to Jade. She was doing her best to lean closer to him, the hospital gown dropping down low enough that he could see her chest. He decided to pay attention to her face instead. Her eyes were focused directly at him, more specifically his lips. Her own lips were a bit bruised as she bit down on bottom lip gently.

He leaned closer to her. Their faces were mere millimeters apart. He was going to taste her lips. He was going to be able to confess to her.

Then the door opened and they quickly broke apart. Jade seemed unaffected, but Sam was red as a tomato.

"Jade," Lori cried as she ran to the bed, "You're alright!"

Jade tensed slightly as Lori hugged her. _If I wasn't so tired I would have sensed her. I would have told her to stay out... So close._


	9. Relax

**Chapter 8- Relax:**

**Third Person:**

Charles Xavier sighed as he looked towards his students. Each of them had a different face of worry, determination, fear, or outrage. It was reasonable. He did tell them that Order was something none of them should deal with and he refused to send any of them out to deal with it- was he sending Logan and Storm? Possibly, but he wasn't going to tell the students that for fear they would stow away on the carriers to help.

"-But Professor," Lori pleaded, "If we can't take them down, what can we do?"

"Relax," Professor X said calmly, "Take this time to relax. It is a school holiday after all and you should make the most of it. Go and relax."

Kurt had to practically drag Lori out of the room, but eventually they all exited the Professor's office. Some of them were thankful they weren't going after the Order, others were upset, and some were disheartened. Jade, however, was none of the emotions as she was just simply frustrated with her arm. After finally being released from the medbay, she still had to get used to life without her left arm- which thankfully wasn't her dominant arm.

Sam stood by Jade's side, doting on her, making sure she was okay. Jade glared mildly,

"I am perfectly alright, it's the arm that's the issue. Or rather the lack of. So shut up."

Jade continued to grumble, mostly in French. Sam watched as she retreated with a disappointed look before he followed after her. It wasn't her fault, he rationalized, she was grumpy. She was upset. She was likely to snap at anyone. He knew she wasn't always the kindest person, but she hadn't snapped at him yet.

"Jade," Sam said, "You heard the Professor, we have to relax."

"I do plan on relaxing- a nice bubble bath should do me fine," Jade grumbled, "I'll just need some help getting undressed."

Sam turned bright red at what she was implying- or rather what he thought she was implying. A few images popped in his head- of her in the bath with just bubbles covering her, him helping her undress, her in underwear... Jade's mind filled with the images as well and she laughed.

"Not you! Just send Jean or someone up!"

Still laughing, Jade turned into her room.

Meanwhile, Lori was balancing on her air scooter outside on the very top of the fountain. She had her eyes closed and her hands on her knees, breathing in and out. She learned that meditating helped calm her down, and clear her mind, so she was able to focus more on her powers, and her deep, personal thoughts that she could only share with Jade, despite the fact that there were two other telepaths that lived here.

She knew she had major feelings for Kurt, like Sam did for Jade. She smirked. Last night had been on purpose. She'd be damned if she'd let anyone hurt her sister. She knew Sam was nice, and super sweet, but he was also careless, and Lori was over protective.

"Hello."

Lori's eyes snapped open as she air under her went back to normal and she fell into the fountain.

"Hi, Kurt. What's up?"

She looked up at Kurt, who was wearing a tuxedo that looked a tiny bit to small, and he was holding a panda lily, her favorite flower. Lori's face turned bright red as she smiled. Kurt shifted his weight from foot to foot nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Lori..." Kurt said.

He wasn't sure how he should word it. He had spent hours memorizing something he had written, but had forgotten as he stared at her. Her strawberry blonde hair was slightly tangled due to the wind, and clung to her face because it was soaking, but it still somehow managed to perfectly frame her mean looking, yet beautiful face.

"I...You...You're so..."

Lori smiled and walked forward, and without saying anything, kissed him. He was hesitant a first, but quickly got over that, and put his hands around her waist, pulling her closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, lifting herself up slightly despite the fact that she was almost, if not as tall as him. The only reason they pulled away was so they could breathe. Lori was grinning, and it made butterflies appear in his stomach.

"Wanna go get some grub?" She asked. Kurt grinned and nodded, hooking his arm in hers.

"I vhould love to. I hear there is a great place called Tempest by a dude named Danny. Vanna try it?"

"I'm fine with just about anything that tastes good. As long as you ditch the watch."

"Please. The holo-watch is _so _last football season. Besides, the girls dig the fuzzy man."

Lori laughed,

"I know for a fact I do. Now come on, I'm starving."

* * *

"_Merde,_" Jade swore loudly as she made her way out of her room.

Bathing had not been pleasant. She needed Jean's help to just get undressed and even bathe. Thankfully Jean was mature enough to just be calm and not mind, but Jade was fuming. Her pink hair looked almost black as it clung to her head in an unattractive manner due to being wet. At least she was dressed- also with the help of Jean.

_At least Lori is having a good time with Kurt,_ Jade thought as to calm her down. She knew full well of Lori and Kurt's attraction to each other and Lori's thoughts were practically screaming in excitement about a date with the 'fuzzy man.' Jade was also aware of her growing feelings for Sam, however, and that bothered her.

Sam was nice, but she wasn't. She was a Catholic, but she didn't act like it sometimes- she swore a lot, she didn't care about modesty or sex, but at least she acted like a Catholic where it counts right? She believed what she believed and what she believed was the Catholic ways, for the most part. The exorcisms still lingered in her mind and made her shiver.

She sat down at the fountain, where she knew Lori and Kurt were just a mere ten minutes ago. The sun was setting, signaling it was just the beginning of a beautiful evening. She leaned on the one arm she did have, a bit frustrated that she could barely even sit like she normally did. All her weight on one arm, leaning towards it slightly, she closed her eyes.

Then she slipped.

_"MERDE!"_

She desperately tried to grab onto something or to catch herself. Her one arm stretched out in a flapping manner only to be grabbed tightly by a strong hand. Her hand clasped the arm desperately as her savoir pulled her forward. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Still getting used to it," Sam asked as he took a seat at the fountain.

Jade took her seat as well,

"What gave me away Sherlock?"

She sighed and lowered her head. She was strong. She was independent and yet losing one arm and she was reduced to nothing- worthless, _weak._

"Hey, you okay," Sam asked gently.

"No... I'm not," Jade seethed, "The Order may be gone now, but that's just it- they're gone _now,_ but what about later? Who's to say they won't come back? And when they do I'll probably still be as weak as I am now..."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it... and you're not weak Jade."

Jade gritted her teeth as she looked at Sam- he looked like some love-sick puppy and she was sure she did too sometimes. This wasn't one of those times... At least at first it wasn't until she slipped yet again and he caught her. She smirked,

"Well, I'm a damsel, not necessarily in distress, but you're still apparently my hero."

She closed the distance between them. Shocked that his first kiss was being taken now, Sam's eyes widened. Then he relaxed into the kiss. The two sat at the fountain, easily getting whisked away into their own little world right until the moment where they fell into the fountain.


End file.
